Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached this past Sunday at Bethel Lutheran Church, Portville, NY. It is based upon John 11:1-45 .  “Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs...Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign” sang the Five Man Electrical Band. In John’s gospel, we don’t encounter parables, but there are plenty of signs. Jesus performed miracles, but they were not the big picture. They were signs, which do not point to themselves, but elsewhere, to Jesus. John’s gospel surprises us with frequent and personal expressions of Jesus’ self-disclosure. This week’s reading too is fraught with double meanings and further revelation of who Jesus is. The raising of Lazarus signals the beginning of the end of Jesus’ teaching and signs. It was the tipping point of Jesus’ relationship with the Jewish authorities and the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, putting into motion the events that led to Jesus’ crucifixion. Jesus’ enemies shifted from generalized oppo...

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This is a picture of Jacob's Well by David Roberts from 1839. Below is the sermon I preached at Bethel Lutheran Church in Portville, NY. It is based on John 4:5-42. We all have different paths that have brought us to faith in Jesus. Some have dramatic conversion experiences from of a life of sin and unbelief to a life of faith. Others have a relationship with God from childhood and cannot remember a time when God was not real to them. God meets us wherever we are. Jesus engaged Nicodemus differently than he engaged the Samaritan woman in today’s gospel. He tailored the encounter to the needs of the hearer. Nicodemus was Jewish. We are told his name. He came to Jesus in Jerusalem. The Samaritan woman is a Gentile. We never find out her name. Jesus came to her. Nicodemus could not wrap his mind around a new, spiritual birth, while the woman struggled to understand what it meant to have living water. There are several unusual characteristics about Jesus’ meeting wit...

This is the message I shared with God's people at Bethel Lutheran Church, Portville, NY. It is based on John 3:1-17. God bless you. I don’t know about you, but I can identify with Nicodemus. Like him, I have had ideas about the way things are and how God works. But then God decides to do something that is completely outside the box I had put him in. Nicodemus represents each of us who are seeking God and want to do what’s right.  Ironically, the first words out of Nicodemus’ mouth were “…we know…” Nicodemus came to Jesus with a set of convictions about what was real and what was possible. He heard and perhaps had witnessed the wondrous signs Jesus had done, but Nicodemus didn’t know as much as he thought he did. Here was a man who was devout and learned in the Old Testament scriptures. He was a leader and teacher about God. But even his extensive knowledge of God’s law and the miraculous wasn’t enough to ensure that he understood the workings of God. Nicodemus knew ...

This is the message I shared with the people of God at Bethel Lutheran Church, Portville, NY. The scripture it is based on is Matthew 4:1-11 Today’s gospel passage comes right on the heels of the account of Jesus’ baptism, with the Father’s declaration that Jesus is his beloved son. And that was way back in January. God loves his Son so much that...the Holy Spirit leads Jesus “into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (v. 1). Doesn’t that seem a bit contradictory? Why would God do that? It’s a set-up!              The first words out of the devil’s mouth are, “If you are the Son of God..” (v. 2).   Prove it! You’re hungry. Do something about it. Turn these stones into bread. After all, what’s wrong with that? Jesus had fasted for 40 days. Of course, he was hungry.  Jesus’ response was to quote scripture to the devil. Jesus does not appeal to his divine rights, but identifies with humanity. Being G...